He emphasised that stockpiling is part of Singapore's three-pronged approach to ensure key supplies. The other two prongs are diversifying its import and export markets and ramping up local production. The resilience of Singapore's supply chains during the Pandemic was cited as one of the wins of Singapore's COVID 19 response strategy in a White Paper released last week. Singapore has benefited from its incredible connectivity to the rest of the world due to its infrastructure such as a world-class maritime port and airport, said Mr Lim. Mr Lim said that the fact that being connected has helped Singapore weather some of the local supply chain disruptions that are taking place in other countries, and that Singapore also took the element of trust very seriously in fulfilling its responsibility as a global hub during the Pandemic.
We have never imposed any sort of export restriction on essential goods at any point in time. He said that we were one of the very few countries in the world that did that. We honoured our commitments to our investors, as well as our international customers. Singapore was able to plug a hole when supply chains were disrupted around the world. He said that the success of PSA positioning itself as a catch-up port, where ships from all over the world were able to make up time for the delays encountered in other ports when passing through Singapore. For us to do better, I would say that we should double down on these two elements. He said that we should continue to stay connected, continue to reach out and build a much richer, denser web of interlocking trade roots and trade connections.
But at the same time, we always strengthen the trust we have with the business community, with our international partners, and of course with our friends all around the world. Mr Lim said that Singapore was able to overcome the worst supply chain disruptions during the epidemic because of the high level of cooperation and cohesion. The stockpiles remain our measure of last resort, as Singapore has done with rice, and Lim said it is helpful to have items physically in stock, as Singapore has never seen stockpiling as the single answer to ensure access to essential supplies. He said that we cannot prepare a hundred per cent for every last chance, and that is the first thing we have to recognize. It's too expensive and you can't stock everything. It is important to prioritize the areas that need stockpiling, and make sure that country has enough room as a baseline to get through that as a critical and essential service, come what may Diversification of its import and export markets is a key strategy Singapore is adopting.